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SAP Shareholders End Pact

Updated Sept. 3, 2002 8:51 a.m. ET

Three founding shareholders of SAP AG, Europe's biggest software maker, said Tuesday they had ended a joint-control agreement over the 30% of the company they own, leaving them free to sell their individual holdings. The executives -- Co-Chief Executive Hasso Plattner, Chairman Dietmar Hopp and board member Klaus Tschira -- said the move will simplify SAP's shareholding structure. They said they have no plans to sell their stakes. "We think they are flagging further disposals," Commerzbank analyst Ashley Thomas, analyst at Commerzbank. "What used to be a stable security now becomes a bit of a stock overhang,"...